Hello everyone! As far as i know until recently it was possible to download ESXi software for free and also use it with some limitations in place indefinitely provided one has used an activation license key. Also, this license key could be retrieved directly from the vmware.com site.
Indeed I have been able to download VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0b and also find the associated free license key.
Unfortunately, I have found out that the 7.0 version of ESXi uses a partition schema that defaults to use about 200 GB of space for internal purposes, which is really undesirable in my case as my hardware has got only one disk. I have searched the web and found out this issue been addressed in more recent ESXi 7.0 build, namely 7.0U1c. That is why is decided to download the most recent version of ESXi, 7.0U2.
I have been able to download this build via Home -> Evaluate VMware Products -> Product Evaluation Center for VMware vSphere 7.0 Update 2 -> Download from where I can navigate to "My Evaluations" where "No license key required" is to be found in place of a valid license key.
The "Download product" for VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 7.0U2 page says "You either are not entitled or do not have permissions to download this product." and the "Download now" button is blocked. I'm using the very same account I have used to download the 7.0b build.
Any ideas appreciated.
Kind regards,
Michal
